Chuanqi is a form of fictional short story or novella in Classical Chinese that first took shape during the Tang dynasty, with the term often narrowed to refer specifically to fiction written in that period, also called Tang chuanqi or chuanqi wen. It developed out of the zhiguai xiaoshuo tales of the Six Dynasties period, formed in the early Tang, reached peak popularity in the middle Tang and declined by the Song dynasty, organizing its stories around four principal themes: love, gods and demons, xiayi tales of heroes and knights-errant, and history. Unlike the more loosely structured biji xiaoshuo and zhiguai xiaoshuo, most chuanqi stories carry a complicated plot with narrative twists and detailed description, marking them as deliberate literary creations rather than mere records of purportedly factual events.
Facts
Place of OriginChina, first formed in the Tang dynasty (618-907). 1 Notable ExampleYingying's Biography by Yuan Zhen, judged the chuanqi story with the greatest lasting influence on later Chinese literature. 1 Defining TraitA deliberately literary short-fiction form marked by complicated plotting and detailed description, distinguishing it from looser tale collections that merely recorded supposed fact. 1 FAQs
Does chuanqi mean only Tang dynasty fiction?
The term most often means Tang dynasty fiction, but scholars debate whether it stretches to the Song and even the Qing.
Not always, because there is no clear definition of chuanqi and scholars debate which fictions it covers. The term often refers specifically to Tang dynasty fiction, and the early 1920s anthology of Tang and Song chuanqi prepared by the scholar Lu Xun helped establish chuanqi as the name for these texts. Some scholars argue it should not be a general term for every Tang story. Wilt Idema and Lloyd Haft treat it as a general term for classical Chinese stories of the Tang and Song dynasties, while others count all classical Chinese fiction except biji xiaoshuo, which would carry the form into the Qing dynasty and include many stories in Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.
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Source Chuanqi (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. Chuanqi (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationlead section, first sentence
Chuanqi is a form of fictional short story or novella in Classical Chinese first formed in the Tang dynasty.
lead section, second paragraph
Unlike general biji xiaoshuo and zhiguai xiaoshuo, most chuanqi stories have a complicated plot with twists and detailed descriptions and are meaningful literary creations instead of mere recordings of factual events.
Love section
Yingying's Biography is the chuanqi with the most long-lasting influence on later generations.
In Group: Flash and Very Short Fiction, Lead
Chuanqi is a form of fictional short story or novella in Classical Chinese first formed in the Tang dynasty.
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